


The Nurse House

by An_Ordinary_Writer



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Human/Swap AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:14:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25206055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/An_Ordinary_Writer/pseuds/An_Ordinary_Writer
Summary: Luz is the step-daughter of the most powerful witch in the boiling Isles. Camilla Noceda is a nurse that prefers normalcy. What happens when these two worlds collide? Probably what you'd expect.Based on an AU made by kohlns: https://kohlnsss.tumblr.com/post/620811595832066048/more-owl-house-aus-i-made
Relationships: Camilia Noceda & Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & Luz Noceda
Comments: 44
Kudos: 179





	1. A Rough Start

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based on an AU made by kohlns: https://kohlnsss.tumblr.com/post/620811595832066048/more-owl-house-aus-i-made
> 
> If you like this story, then thank her for coming up with the idea. But if you hate this story, then blame me for being the one who wrote it into the ground. Without further ado, let's begin.

In the Abomination 101 class at Hexide, students were currently presenting their abominations to the teacher. Both the students and the professor found the presentations to be the worst part of the class. The students didn't like it because they were usually yelled at by the professor for doing the tiniest things wrong. As for the professor, he hated the presentations because they were a constant reminder of how awful his students were. That is, except for Amity Blight, who the professor adored for her high skill level. Especially now as she presented her latest masterpiece.

“Excellent work Miss Blight,” the professor said to his student, “I especially love its texture. Tell me, did you use the gray dragon scales to make him?”

“Only the finest that money can buy,” Amity bragged.

“Extraordinary,” The professor breathed out, “Yet another A plus for you, my top student.”

“Thank you, sir,” Amity said with a bow before facing her project, “Abomination, cower.”

At the command, the abomination sunk back into its clay pot. Amity rolled it back to her seat as her classmates gave forced applause.

“Alright, now for our next student: Miss-oh no…” the professor groaned once he read who was next, “Miss Clawthorne, may you please present your abomination.”

“Yes, sir!” a voice from the back of the class shouted. All eyes turned towards a teen girl with tanned skin and long dark hair, with purple dye dipped at the end. The girl, Luz Clawthorne, was wearing a school uniform that seemed to be a mish-mash of colors representing each track taught at Hexide. If that didn’t set her apart from the rest of her classmates, then the big dopey grin on her face surely conflicted with everyone else’s looks of worry and terror.

However, Luz didn’t notice their expressions. Instead, she rolled her abomination up to the front of the class, with a skip in her step. And definitely didn’t see some of them getting ready to duck under their chairs as she passed by.

“My fellow classmates!” Luz said once she got to the front, “Prepare to be blown away by the amazingness that is: My abomination!”

Luz took the lid of the clay pot, and her entire class instantly ducked for cover.

“Abomination, RISE!”

At first, nothing happened, and few students even began to look up curiously. Slowly but surely, a large mass started to take form as it rose out of the clay pot. It appeared to have the body of a large bear, the head of a pterodactyl, and tentacles with hands at the end protruding from the body. The students then looked up with awe as they saw the abomination before them. Even the perfect Amity Blight looked impressed to see what was in front of her.

“Ta-da!” Luz exclaimed, “Pretty cool, right?”

“Miss Clawthorne,” the professor said with amazement in his voice, “How did you make something so...intriguing?”

“You remember that list you gave us that had ingredients for what to use?”

"Yes?”

“Well, one of the requirements for the project was to be original. And I thought that the most original thing to do was to ignore your list altogether and make something with my own ingredients. So what I did is that I took that list, crumpled it into a ball, and fed it to my house!”

“Wait-What?”

“I know why you’re confused. You see, my house is alive, and he surprisingly really likes to eat paper. So…”

“No, I mean: What did you use other than the listed ingredients?” The professor asked now that his amazement had worn off.

“Lots of stuff,” Luz explained, “Mostly ingredients my stepmom uses for her potions and other junk she gets from the human world.”

“Like.  _ What? _ ”

“Like toenail clippings, werewolf fur, orange juice, soda, vampire tears, silkworm string, some purple stuff-”

“You added WHAT?!”

“Purple stuff. I know it’s a vague description, but I don’t know what else to call it. It looked like a liquid, but it somehow didn’t have the texture of one. I honestly stopped using it after a while because-”

“MISS CLAWTHORNE!” the professor shouted to end Luz’s babbling, “Do you have any idea what happens when you use silkworm string for an abomination?!”

“I guess it’s what that thing is doing right now?” A student asked, pointing to Luz’s abomination. Everyone looked at it to see that the poor thing started twitching and bubbling like it was being boiled. Seeing this, all the students went back to cowering under their desks.

“Ooooh, that’s what kept causing this,” Luz said casually, "“To be honest, I just thought it was the purple-”

**_SPLAT!_ **

**_In Principal Bump’s office, a few hours later._ **

“And that’s why the abomination class is filled with abomination goo,” a goo covered Luz said to Principal Bump, who had his head in his hands.

“Ms. Clawthorne,” Bump groaned out, “What am I going to do with you?”

“You could let me go scot-free.”

“That was a rhetorical question,” Bump said plainly now looking at Luz with fury, “To be perfectly honest, I should not be surprised by any of this. What else could have happened when you enroll the stepdaughter of Edalyn Clawthorne into your school? Speaking of, where is your stepmother anyway? She should be here by now.”

“I’m right here,” said a familiar voice. Luz turned around and smiled at her stepmom, Eda. To most people, Luz’s stepmom looked more like a fun grandma. Due to the wild gray hair, the wrinkly skin that was pale as snow, and the cocky grin. But it’s not Eda’s fault that she met Luz’s dad while Eda was in her late 40s. Who would have guessed that the guy had a taste for older women anyway?

“Sorry I’m late,” Eda said as she sat in the chair next to Luz, “I had to stop Hooty from eating every book in the house. Thanks to a certain someone, he really reacquired the taste for paper.”

“He didn’t get to my Azura books, did he?” Luz asked with panic in her voice.

“Don’t worry kiddo, your flowery books are safe and sound,” Eda said, playfully ruffling Luz’s hair, “Now what did you do this time?"

“Well, you’ll be happy to know that you did a swell job in teaching Luz to cause trouble,” Principal Bump explained. “You see, because of Luz, the entire abomination classroom is covered-wall to wall I might add-in her failed project."

“To be fair, it was an accident,” Luz defended.

“To be fair, that’s the point!” Bump exclaimed as he slammed his fist on his desk. As for Eda, she was currently shaking her head with discontent.

“I don’t believe it,” she growled.

“Wait,” Bump said, his anger subsiding, “Are actually disappointed in Luz?”

“You're darn right that I’m disappointed!”

“Oh. Well, that’s quite surprising coming from you, Edalyn. I never took you as the type to-”

“I blew up my abominations a hundred times over when I was her age!” Eda exclaimed, "This is the third time Luz blew hers up, and now you're telling me that she's still doing it by accident?! What do you have to say for yourself, young lady!”

Both Luz and Bump just stared at Eda, both of them with their own look of shock and confusion.

“Um...I’m sorry?” Luz said, which caused Eda to jump out of her seat in rage.

“Now you’re APOLOGIZING?!” she shouted before facing Bump, “Principal Bump, you were right to contact me. Someone needs to teach this girl how to be a real troublemaker. I thought I did a good job all these years, but it turns out I was  _ way  _ off.”

Eda then grabbed Luz by the arm and began to pull her out of Bump’s office.

“C’mon Luz,” Eda said, “I’m going to give you a stern talking to, and you better tune me out halfway.”

After Eda and Luz left, Principal Bump shook off his shock and headed for the door.

“Edalyn Clawthorn!” he shouted from his office, “That is not the reason why I contacted you, and you know it!”

“I can’t hear you!” Eda shouted back, “I’m too busy walking away now!”

Once they got further away, Luz looked to her step-mom to ask a question.

“Did you make a scene just to get me out of there, or am I actually in trouble for not  _ causing _ trouble?”

“Yes and sort of,” Eda said simply, “By the way, you’re gonna be working extra shifts at the stand. Just until you learn how to disrespect authority.”

“But, you would be the authority in that case.”

"Exactly. I stopped listening to my parents since I was three. You're way behind schedule. Now let's go get some Not Dogs. You can tell me all about the destruction you caused while we eat. Because I want the  _ exact  _ details of the look on your professor's face."

**_***_ **

Luz and Eda sat at a picnic table not too far from the Not Dog stand, eating their Not Dogs. Luz was just finishing her story, and Eda could hardly contain her laughter from hearing it.

“And his vein was  _ bulging _ ,” Luz explained with her mouth full, “Not gonna lie, I half expected it to pop.”

“HA! I can already picture it,” Eda said between chuckles, “And what about your classmates? Any of them got angry?”

“Oh yeah. Especially Amity. I’ve told you about Amity, right?”

“The girl you have a crush on?”

“Whaaaaaat? I don’t-hehe-I don’t have a crush on her,” Luz stuttered, a blush beginning to form on her face.

“Keep telling yourself that kiddo,” Eda checked her watch, "Alright, it's getting late. The guards' patrol should be here any minute now, so we should head out before I get sent to the Conformitorium."

“As if that’ll happen,” Luz chortled while she gathered the garbage.

“Hey, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Those guards are dumb, but they're not incompetent.”

“You operate a stand in the exact same place in Bonesborrow,” Luz pointed out as she threw their trash away, "The guards know this, and they don't even prepare to arrest you. I'm pretty sure they fit right into the incompetent category."

“I know that I should be annoyed that you’re disagreeing with me, but I’m just so dang proud that you just disrespected authority,” Eda said with pride. "I might just make you a juvenile delinquent yet."

“EDA THE OWL LADY!” Eda and Luz stopped where they were after hearing the rough voice from behind them.

"Oh, here we go," Eda sighed, "Just play it cool for now, Luz."

Eda and Luz slowly turned around to face an Emperor’s Guardsman, who marched his way over to the pair.

“Alright big guy, I know the drill,” Eda said unenthusiastically, “You’re here to arrest me for all my criminal misdeeds and all that yada yada. Can’t we just skip to the part where I outsmart you, steal your wallet, and run off?”

“I’m not here for you, Owl Lady...unless you’re willing to come as well?”

“Not a chance.”

“In that case, I’m not here for you,” the guardsman then pointed to Luz, “I’m here, for  _ her. _ ”

“Me?!”

“LUZ?!” Eda shouted indignantly, “Why the heck do you want her?!”

“We’ve actually been receiving complaints about your step-daughter for months now,” the guard explained. “It was all mostly from parents who dealt with the aftermath through their children. At first, we didn’t mind it. Kids will be kids, after all. But once word got to Miss Lilith, she made taking the girl away from you a number one priority.”

“Wait, how did my sister know about Luz?” Eda asked, “It’s not like she has a whiny brat of her own to deal with.”

“Apparently, one of Lilith’s proteges complained about your kid’s latest abomination.”

“Which protege?”

“Amity Blight.”

Hearing that name caused Luz’s blood to go cold.

‘Amity ratted me out?’ she thought to herself.

“Welp, I think that’s enough explaining. C’mon kid.” the guardsman then grabbed Luz by the arm and began to drag her away.

“Wha-Hey! Wait!” Luz shouted as she tried to pull herself out of his grip, “What’s gonna happen to me?!”

“You’ll be taken to the Conformitorium. Once you’re there, you will spend weeks learning how to properly fit into society. And when we conclude that you’re ready, we’ll let you go.”

“Oh...ok,” Luz said, slightly relaxing. Slightly. “And after that, I’ll be sent back to Eda?”

“Oh, goodness, no!” The guard exclaimed, “The Owl Lady clearly demonstrated how she isn’t fit for a caretaker. So once you’re free, you’ll be sent into the foster system so someone else will take care of you.”

“WHAT?!”

“But don’t worry, you’ll find someone nice. Like maybe Miss Lilith. That’ll be good, right? Staying with your Auntie Lily?”

“Heck No! She gives me socks for my birthdays! Why would I want to live with that?!”

“Hang on, hang on,” Eda proclaimed as she grabbed Luz’s other arm, “Let me get this straight: I’m never going to see Luz again?”

“Nope.”

“Well then, can’t I at least have a chance to say goodbye? You know, get one last hug in before you take her away forever?”

“Hm…” the guardsman began to rub his chin in thought, “You’re a tricky criminal who always has something up her sleeve...But go ahead! I may have been trained to be an emotionless soldier, but I’m not made of stone  _ dang it! _ ”

“Uh-huh, yeah, that’s great,” Eda yanked Luz away from the guard and knelt down in front of her stepdaughter.

“This is just a minor hiccup, right?” Luz whispered with an ounce of hope, “You’ll just break me out, and we’ll go back to normal, right?”

“I don’t think so kiddo,” Eda whispered back, much to Luz’s dismay, “Yeah...I’d say this is more of a  _ nuclear  _ situation. You understand?”

Luz looked at Eda, eyes wide with shock. Eda had drilled codewords into Luz’s head for years, preparing her for situations like the one they were in. And it was always that one codeword that Luz feared.

“You  _ understand _ ?” Eda asked again. Luz nodded glumly this time as she fought back her tears. Eda smiled a warm and nurturing smile as she pulled Luz into a hug. Luz knew that there was actual affection behind Eda's actions, but feeling the small object slip into her pocket revealed the real purpose.

“It’s that serious, huh?” Luz choked out, the tears fighting hard.

“‘Fraid so kiddo,” At that, Luz hugged Eda back, the tears now fully rolling down Luz’s cheeks.

“Can you say goodbye to King for me?”

“Hey, c’mon. Don’t think like that,” Eda said, fighting her own tears, “This isn’t a goodbye. It’s a...see you later. Like you’re going away on vacation.”

Eda pulled away from the hug so she could get one last look at Luz. After ruffling Luz's hair for one last time, Eda stood up and faced the guardsman.

“Alright, she’s all yours,” she said reluctantly.

“Good,” the guardsman went in to grab Luz, but Eda pushed the young witch behind her.

“But before you take her, I just want to say one last thing...DISTRACTION SPELL!”

Eda then threw down a mysterious object, which hit the ground with an  _ FWAP _ ! The guard looked down at what Eda threw, picked it up, and then held it up for her to see.

“This is just a bag of Hex Mix,” he simply said.

“Yeah, so?”

“So, that’s not a distraction spell.”

“I mean, you say that, but it still got results,” Eda stepped to the side to reveal that there was no longer a fourteen-year-old witchling standing behind her. The guardsman, shocked, tossed aside the Hex Mix and started looking around frantically.

“What the-” he stuttered, “Where did she go?!”

“Beats me,” Eda shrugged, “Just like how I’ll beat you.”

“Wait. Wha-”

**_WHACK!_ **

The Guardsman stumbled back, briefly stunned by the blunt hit by Eda’s staff. He managed to gain his composure in time to see the Owl Lady begin to take off on said staff.

“You won’t get away with this Owl Lady!” he shouted.

“I already have, moron!” Eda shouted back, “Be sure to tell my sister I said hi!”

The guardsman then gulped in terror. It just now occurred to him that he had to explain his failure to Miss Lilith. Something every man would fear.

**_***_ **

Luz dashed through trees and leaped over creaks to get to her destination. She was already pretty winded due to her run from Bonesborrow to the woods, but Luz didn’t dare let that stop her. After a few more twists and turns, she finally made it to a field full of rocks of different shapes and sizes. Not wasting a single second, Luz started scanning and searching for one specific stone out of the lot. Eventually, Luz found a medium-sized rock with a small picture of an owl chiseled into it. Luz dived for it and lifted it up to reveal a small hole that held a duffle bag.

“Ok, let’s see here,” Luz pulled the duffle out and unzipped it, “Got a toothbrush, six washcloths, a spare change of clothes, human money, a picture of my family, and most important of all: My spare copies of ‘The Good Witch Azura.’”

Luz then re-zipped her duffle bag and hung it over her shoulder. Taking one last deep breath, Luz pulled out the object that Eda left in her pocket: A dimensional key that was wooden and had a yellow eye in the center. Luz just stood where she was, staring at the key much longer than she should. Debating if she was really ready to do what she was about to do. It wasn’t until the distant howls of bloodhounds forced Luz to find her courage. She pressed down on the eye in the key, and a door magically appeared before her.

“Here goes everything!” Luz exclaimed as she ran through the door and found herself in another woodland area. Only now the trees weren’t red with white bark, but instead green with brown bark. Luz then turned back to the door, and with a second of hesitation, pressed the eye again and threw the key through the door as it disappeared.

As the final bits of the door disappeared, Luz slumped down onto her knees and finally allowed herself to breathe. She didn’t dare let herself think too much about what happened. Because she knew that once she did, the reality of the situation would force her to sob her eyes out. And Luz knew that crying came later.

“Goodbye-No,” Luz stood up with a determined look on her face, “See you later, Boiling Isles. And hello...whatever the human realm is called.”


	2. Wonderful Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz meets her first human. It goes about as well as you'd expect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some heads up: There's some google translated Spanish in this one.

Luz walked through the woods, looking through the trees to get a sense of her surroundings. Everything looked so much more different in comparison to the Boiling Isles. From the trees to the ground to even the night sky above. The world around her had some sort of calm tone and atmosphere to it. Luz would find it all beautiful if she wasn’t also wasn’t currently freaking out right now.

“Ok, Luz. Don’t panic,” she said to herself, "Sure, you may have exiled yourself into a new world. And you might not know anything about this world, but who cares? It’s fine! Everything’s fine. Eda will find a way to get you out of this...eventually...hopefully.”

Luz then slapped herself.

“No. No!” she shouted, “You are not going to think negative. Just look at the task ahead. Like...finding shelter! It’s getting pretty late, so you need a place to sleep tonight. You could either make your own or literally find something to sleep in. Like a cave. Or a cabin. Or the body of a dead animal. Or maybe…”

Luz lost her train of thought as a small orange glow in the distance caught her eye. Curiosity getting the better of her, Luz ran through the trees and towards the light. After a few feet, Luz saw what looked like a house. Getting closer, Luz noticed there was another house to the right of the one she saw, and what looked like many more. Standing behind a tree, Luz realized she stood in front of what must have the house’s backyard. Due to the fenced area, two trash cans, and two other structures. One structure looking like a shed and the other looking like a smaller house with something gray and hairy inside.

“Or maybe spend the night in a stranger's house,” Luz said, hiding back behind the tree, “Alright, let’s create a game plan...Got it! I’ll wait until whoever's in there goes to sleep, silently break-in, and probably spend the night somewhere in there. Probably in the basement, or maybe even the attic...and saying all of this out loud makes me realize how insanely creepy that sounds.”

Luz groaned as she started to massage her temples out of agitation.

“Ok, you’re definitely not going to spend the night _inside_ the house...or maybe you can. If you ask nicely to the people inside if you could spend the night, they’ll probably let you! Yeah! That could work...of course, you’ll have to explain the ears...and the school uniform...and the reason why you need to stay the night in the first place-You know what? Forget that plan. That’s a bad plan. Very clearly, a bad plan.”

Luz peaked out from behind the tree again and scanned the backyard for a second time.

“But you have to do something,” she told herself, “You can’t just live in the woods. You have no idea what kind of dangerous creatures are in the human realm. There might even be something more dangerous than what's in the Boiling Isles. And you didn’t go through all of that work to exile yourself to get killed out the gate.”

Luz then looked over to the two other structures, her attention being drawn to the shed.

“...Maybe you could sleep in the shed. Yeah! That could work. It’s not too creepy, and whoever lives in the house might not even notice you’re in the shed. Probably...Hopefully...Ok, so it’s not the best plan. But it’s better than nothing.”

Luz looked at the window facing the backyard to make sure no one would see her. Confirming that the coast was clear, Luz hopped over the fence. But once she did, the hairy thing from the smaller house instantly ran out and looked at Luz. Whatever the creature was, it looked like a wolf. Or, at least, a much, much smaller wolf. Luz froze in her tracks, quietly gawking at the creature that was starting to growl at her.

“Hey little guy,” Luz whispered calmly, “Don’t worry, I’m going to hurt you, or anyone else who lives here. I’m just going to go into that shed, and camp out for the night. Is that ok?”

Luz then took a step forward, but as soon as she did, the small wolf began to bark at her.

“ _Sssshhhh!”_ Luz shushed it, “No-Ssh! Please! Be-”

Luz stopped trying to reason with the small wolf once she heard the back door of the house begin to open. Panicking, Luz then hopped back over the fence. But not without the person inside getting a glimpse of the young witch.

“I saw you!” A woman’s voice yelled, “And if you ever-Prince! ¡Silencio!”

After the weird command, the small wolf stopped barking.

‘Did she just say a spell?’ Luz thought to herself, ‘But humans can’t do magic...can they?’

“As I was saying,” the woman continued, “If you ever come near my house again, I will not hesitate to use my bat on you!”

‘A bat!’ Luz thought, ‘Wait, what does she mean that she'll use her bat on me? Can she...Can she control animals?! Because that would explain why the wolf stopped barking!’

“¡Aye! ¡Intruso!” the woman shouted, “Do you understand me?”

‘Oh man Luz, this lady must have some serious magic if she can control animals. You need to do some damage control if you want to get out of this alive.’

“I’m sorry!” Luz shouted back, “I didn’t mean to upset you! I was just...I was just looking for a place to sleep tonight. Look, I’ll leave ok. Just please don’t let your animals hurt me.”

“...Wait, how...How old are you?” The woman asked, her voice more curious than angry. This caught Luz off guard, not knowing how to respond.

“I’m, um...I’m fourteen,” she answered, “But I’ll be fifteen in July. If that helps with anything.”

“What are you doing out here then?” the woman now sounded concerned, “Don’t you think your parents are worried sick about you?”

“...Probably?”

“Well, then you want me to call them? Tell them that you’re here?”

“You can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because,” Luz took a deep breath before continuing, “Because my dad left when I was two, I don’t know who my mom is, and my stepmom...my stepmom’s the one who sent me away.”

Luz wiped away fresh tears as a moment of silence fell before them. It was quiet, for so long, that Luz thought maybe the woman had left.

“Hey,” the woman called out, “Why don’t you come on out.”

“Um, I don’t know if that’s a good idea!” Luz said, panic seeping through her voice.

“No te preocupes,” this time the woman’s voice was nurturing, “I’m not going to hurt you. And neither is Prince here. He’s all bark. No bite.”

Luz, hesitantly, peeked over the fence and got a good look at the woman. She was a short and stocky lady who wore a gray turtleneck, loose jeans, and a pair of glasses. The woman’s skin was more tan than Luz’s and had dark hair that was tied into a bun. Luz’s attention then went to a mysterious item in the woman’s hands. It looked like a staff, except it was shorter, thicker at one end, and looked as if it was missing its palisman. The woman noticed Luz looking at the weird object and held it up. 

“Don’t worry about this either,” she said, “It’s just for show. You see, I’m all bark too. And I also took an oath to do no harm, so, there’s that.”

‘Well, if she took an oath,’ Luz considered, ‘Maybe she isn’t all that dangerous after all.’

Slowly and hesitantly, Luz climbed over the fence. Once on the other side, she didn’t walk further than an inch closer to the woman, Who looked at Luz expectantly.

“My name’s Camilia,” the woman said, “What’s yours?”

“...Luz. Luz Clawthorne.”

“Well, Luz Clawthorne,” Camilia waved for Luz to come closer, “How about you come inside, and we’ll figure out your situation together? Sounds good?”

“Um…” Luz's hands went to cover her ears, “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“And that’s fair,” Camilia said, “In fact, I’ll give you credit for not immediately walking into a strangers’ house. But know this: I only want to help. You come inside, and I’ll make you some hot chocolate while I call Child Protective Services to take care of you. And I swear that’s all that will happen.”

“Child Protective Services is something good, right?”

“...It’s something _incredibly_ good...How do you not know that?”

“Oh, uh, I’m-hehe-pretty dumb,” Luz stuttered out, “And uh, you swear that you’re not going to do anything weird? Like, cook me up, eat me, and then sell the leftovers on the black market?”

“That’s a morbid thought to have, but no. I won’t do anything like that,” Camilia made it clear that she promised by crossing her heart. Luz was still concerned, though. After all, you don’t have a con artist as a stepmom without learning that the nicest of people can turn out to be the biggest of freaks. But there was something about Camilia that seemed genuinely, well, genuine. So much so, that Luz’s creep alarm wouldn’t go off when looking at Camilia.

“Ok,” Luz said as she got closer, “If you say so.”

Luz, with her hands still over her ears, walked up to Camilia. She looked curiously at the young witch, once she got a good look at her.

“If you don’t mind me asking: Why are you covering your ears?”

“Because you’d probably freak out if you saw them.”

“Oh, please, I’m a nurse. I see disfigurements and birth defects five times a day. So whatever’s wrong with your ears, it won’t freak me out.”

“...Alright,” Luz lowered her hands, and as she did, Camilia’s eyes went slightly wide from shock.

“Ok...I’ll admit that the fact that they’re pointy is surprising. Why are they pointy, exactly?”

“They've been like that since I was born.”

“Oh, so they are a birth defect.”

“Yeah. Something like that.”

“Well, that’s not so bad,” Camilia said with a smile.

“Can I ask a question now?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Where’s the bat?” Luz asked, which caused Camilia to tilt her head in confusion.

“What do you mean?” she then held up her bat, “It’s right here.”

“That’s not a bat.”

“Yes, it…” it suddenly clicked in Camilia’s brain, “Wait. Earlier, did you think I meant the flying rodent?”

“Well, I mean, yeah?”

“I don’t-how does-why would,” Camilia stuttered, “How could I even attack you with a bat?”

“I mean, I guess using the same spell you used to make your wolf shut up.”

“What? Do you mean Prince? That was just classic training. You can’t really train a bat.”

“Uh…”

“And why did you call Prince a wolf? He’s clearly a dog.”

“Um...”

“Better question: Why did you assume I used a ‘spell?’” It was then that Camilia took further notice of Luz’s ears, “...What are you? Really?”

“I’m-uh-um...AMNESIA SPELL!” Luz then drew a white spell circle in the air, which dissipated once it was complete. This caused Camilia to look even more shocked and caused Prince to bark at Luz again. As for Luz, she just stood still and began to blink rapidly.

“...What were we just talking about?” She asked out of genuine confusion. She felt even more confused when Camilia raised the bat to Luz again.

“What was that?!” Camilia exclaimed, visibly shaking.

“...What was what?”

“That thing! That-that-that _weird_ glowing circle!”

“Oh, you mean a spell circle?” Luz asked with a smile as she drew a cobalt circle this time. Once that circle was complete, there was a puff of smoke that went off around Camilia’s bat. Once the smoke cleared away, Camilia saw that the bat somehow grew wings and a mouth. A mouth that the bat then used to hiss at her.

“¡AYE ¿QUE DEMONIOS?!” Camilia instantly let go of the ‘bat,’ which then started to fly around the backyard. Prince reacted by chasing after the thing, barking up a storm.

“Ta-da!” Luz exclaimed with jazz hands, “Pretty cool, right? But it’s nowhere _near_ as cool as controlling animals...How do you do that anyway?”

Camilia didn’t respond. Instead, she just stood there, staring blankly at Luz. Curious, Luz walked closer to Camilia and waved a hand in front of the woman’s face.

“Um, Miss,” Luz said with concern, “Are you ok?”

“I’m...” Camilia began to waver in her stance, “I’m going to go to sleep now. Buenas noches.”

Camilia fell face forward onto Luz. Luz, not being the strongest, only held Camilia up for a few seconds. Soon after, they both fell down onto the dirt, with Camilia passed out on top of Luz.

“Ow,” Luz mumbled.

*******

Camilia tossed and turned in her sleep, consciousness slowly calling out to her. It wasn’t until she felt Prince lick at her face did Camilia officially start to wake up. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Camilia took in her surroundings. She noticed that she was lying down on her living room couch, the T.V. on playing some game show. And, of course, Prince was sitting in front of Camilia, panting heavily.

“Oh, hola Prince,” Camilia groggily said as she sat up and stretched, “I must’ve passed out while watching Cash Wheel. Man Prince, I had the weirdest dream. There was this teenager, and she could-”

Before Camilia could finish that thought, the lights suddenly went off. Then on again. Then off again. Turning to her left, Camilia saw none other than the girl from her supposed dream. Flipping the light switch and staring at the ceiling with wonderment.

“ _Woah,_ ” She said, “This is so cool! And _way_ easier than using a light spell.”

“Uh…” Camilia was at a loss for words at seeing Luz in front of her. Luz soon took notice of Camilia and smiled happily.

“Oh, hey, you're awake,” She said while walking up to Camilia, “Man, it was not easy dragging you in here. Seriously, either I need to start lifting weights, or you need to start losing weight. Or maybe it’s both...It’s probably both.”

“...This isn’t happening,” Camilia plainly said as she stood up from the couch and began to pace, “This isn’t happening this happening this isn’thappeningthisisn’thappening-Wait.”

Camilia stopped in her tracks, laughing up a storm as she realized something.

“This isn’t happening!” she exclaimed with glee.

“Um, what’s not happening?” Luz asked, feeling concerned.

“This! You! Being here!” Camilia explained while waving her arms frantically, “It’s all just some crazy dream I’m having. Because _now_ my brain decides to have an imagination!”

“I don’t think this is a dream.”

No! Nonononono you don’t understand!” Camilia got right up to Luz’s face before continuing, “This _has_ to be a dream! Otherwise, I’d have to accept the fact that magic is real and that everything I know is a lie!”

“...And that’s bad?”

“IT’S VERY BAD!”

“Ok!” Luz raised her hands in defense, “Got it.”

“So,” Camilia spoke calmly “Here’s what I need you to do: Slap me.”

“What?”

“Slap me!” Camilia shouted, before calming herself down again, “That way I can finally wake up from this crazy dream and move on with my life. So please. _Slap me._ ”

“...Alright,” Luz then slapped Camilia across the face with a loud _SMACK_!

“OW!” Camilia looked at Luz with rage, “WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!”

“Because you told me to do it!”

“Si, but when someone tells you to slap them so they could wake up, you don’t actually do it! What you do is convince them that they’re not dreaming!”

“But you said it was a bad thing if I did that!”

“OK! Ok,” Camilia took another calming breath, “Arguing like this is irrelevant. Because clearly, I’m not asleep.”

“No, you're not.”

“This means that there’s only one other explanation.”

“Yup...Wait. What do _you_ think the explanation is?”

"Simple," Camilia said, smiling a crazy smile, “Clearly years of living on my own has driven me insane. To the point where I see a teenage girl who just happens to be a witch.”

Camilia then walked past Luz and headed for the kitchen.

“Ok,” Luz said as she followed, “Well, I just met you, so as far as I know, you might actually be crazy. But you’re not crazy for thinking that I’m here. Because I am.”

“Oh really,” Camilia stopped so she could turn and look at Luz, “Tell me this then: If you’re really a living, breathing person with their own thoughts, then why are you still here?”

“Because you said you would help me. I’m not giving that up just because you’re having a mental breakdown.”

“Well, then do another amnesia spell. That way I can forget that your a witch, and in turn, stop having a ‘mental breakdown.’”

“I can do an amnesia spell?”

“Yes...you used it earlier...on yourself...remember?”

“Woah, that’s awesome!” Luz exclaimed with stars in her eyes, “I wish I knew how to do it, though. For some reason, I can’t remember ever knowing an amnesia spell…OH! Because it made me forget ever learning it! Man. That is both ironic, yet kind of hilarious when you think about it.”

“Wow, so I’m imagining a teenage witch who’s bad at magic. Huh. Who knew that I was so creative.”

Camilia then walked into the kitchen with Luz angrily following in suit.

“Ok, I’m sorry, but there are a couple of things I want to make clear,” she said, “One, I’m still a witch in training. So there are going to be times when I struggle with a few spells. Especially now that the amnesia spell made me forget some of them. Two, I. Am. _Real._ You’re not going crazy just because I can do insane things.

“And three, what are you doing?” Luz pointed at the weird device that Camilia was holding.

“Hm? Oh! I’m just calling nine-one-one so they could send someone to help me,” Camilia said with little to no concern as she began pressing buttons on the device.

“And is that good or bad?” Luz asked, feeling concerned again.

“It’s only bad if I’m really not insane,” Camilia said, holding the phone to her ear, “Hola, nine-one-one? I’ve become crazy, so can you please send someone over to take me away.”

At that, Luz took the device out of Camilia’s hands and held it up to Luz’s own ear.

“Uh, sorry about that,” she said into the device, “My-uh- _Mom,_ had a little too much of the Giggle Juice potion. If you get what I mean.”

“What?” a voice in the device asked, “Wait...Oh. _Oh._ Ok. I understand what you mean.”

“Good to hear it,” Luz sighed.

“By the way, tell your mom that she’ll have to pay a thousand dollar fine the next time she misuses an emergency number.”

“I don’t know what that means, but I’m sure she’ll-Hello?” Luz heard a weird noise replacing the voice in the device.

“Are people coming to help me?” Camilia asked as if she was a five-year-old.

“Don’t think so. Now, Camilia, was it?”

“Si,” Camilia nodded.

“Ok Camilla, if I was-”

“Hey, could you hang up the phone?” Camilia asked, pointing at the device, “It drains the battery if you don’t.”

“Oh, sure. Sorry. Um...How do I-”

“Press the red button.”

“Got it,” Luz complied and then went back to her pressing mindset, “Now listen. If I really was a figment of your imagination, then A: Why did it hurt when I slapped you earlier? And B: How did I take the phone away from you?”

“Well because…” it then dawned on Camilia of what was really happening, “Because, you’re real. Aren’t you?”

“YES! Finally you-”

“You’re real,” Camilia repeated with an expression of worry, “Oh dios mio, you’re real. You really real!”

“Yes...I am. But that’s not-”

“Aye ¿Qué hice para merecer esto?” Camilia spoke as she began to pace ¿Por qué? ¿Por qué yo Dios?”

“Um, ma'am?”

“¿Es porque dejé de ir a la iglesia?” Camilia asked the ceiling “¿Es porque no rezo lo suficiente? Rezaré ahora si te hace feliz.”

“Ma’am,” But Luz could do nothing but stare in shock as Camilia got down on her knees and brought her hands together.

“Querido padre celestial,” She whispered, “Perdóname por los pecados que he cometido para tener uno de los discípulos de Satanás aquí antes que yo. Realmente lo siento, y espero que puedas perdonarme por lo que sea que haya hecho para perder tu amor y tu guía-”

“Ok, that’s enough,” Luz then drew a blue spell circle. Once it was complete, a lighter blue aura washed over Camilia. It looked as if all the stress and anguish had been expelled from her.

“What just happened?” She calmly asked, “Why do I feel so...relaxed?”

“Because I just used a calming spell on you,” Luz explained as she helped lift Camilia off the floor, “It’s meant to relieve stress for just a couple of minutes. And it looks like it worked too.”

“Why didn’t you use it before?”

“Well, it’s risky. Because one wrong move, and I can accidentally stop your heart.”

“...Well, it definitely works,” Camilia said with tranquility, “Because you just said that, and I don’t feel the tiniest bit stressed out. But wait. Doesn’t that mean I’m covered in Diablo’s magic?”

“Diablo?”

“The devil,” Camilia said bluntly, “The person that witches get their magic from?”

“I don’t know who this devil guy is, but he’s definitely not how I use my magic.”

“He’s not?”

“Nope,” Luz said with a smile, “In fact, my magic comes from this big green sack that’s attached to my heart.”

“Oh. That’s...disgusting.”

“Yeah, it sure is,” Luz then looked at the kitchen table, and then back to Camilia, “Hey, how about we sit down? Would that be good?”

“Si. Si,” Camilia allowed Luz to guide her to the table, “Sitting sounds wonderful right about now.”

Luz then sat Camilia down at one end of the table and went to the other end to take a seat of her own.

“Now,” she said, “I’m sure you have a lot of questions-”

“-Thousands to be exact.”

“And I’ll be more than happy to answer all of them. I’ve got nothing but time anyways.”

For a short while, Camilia just sat there, getting her thoughts together. Everything Camilia knew and learned told her that she was in danger. But every time Camilia would look at Luz, she didn’t feel all that threatened. If anything, the young witch seemed as if she wouldn't harm a fly.

“Alright,” Camilia sighed, “My big question is: Where are you from?”

“I’m from a place called the Boiling Isles,” Luz went on to explain, “It’s an island that’s made out of the dead carcass of a titan, and it is filled with magic and monsters. In fact, every little myth you humans have is a bit of our world leaking into yours.”

“And is that how you got here? You just...leaked into my world?”

“Oh no, I just came here by choice. Or, well, not by choice. More like: Unfortunate circumstance.”

“And why did you come to my house? What drove you here to do that?”

“Nothing really drove me to go anywhere. I just found your house by pure dumb luck.”

“So, God didn’t send you here to punish me?”

“Probably not.”

“Aye, qué alivio,” Camilia sighed, “Now my next question is: Why are you here?”

“You know, I asked my stepmom the same question once. She says it’s one of life’s greatest mysteries and-”

"No, no,” Camilia interrupted, “I meant why are you here in the human realm?”

“Oh! Ok. That makes way more sense,” Luz said with a smile, which slowly began to fade away.

“The reason why I’m here,” she said, “Is because I have nowhere else to go.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that I’m not the most careful witch on the isles. More often than not, I accidentally cause explosions, mutations, and a lot of collateral damage when learning magic. And today, I guess I finally added the straw that broke the Griffin’s back. Because now the emperor’s guard wants to send me to the Conformitorium.”

“Conformitorium?”

“It’s a place where they send weirdos who act out of line. People who do stuff like write weird fan-fiction, or believe in conspiracy theories. A place for people like...well, like me, I guess?”

“So it’s a jail for weirdos?”

“Basically, yeah. And the thing is, my stepmom doesn’t care about having the Emperor’s guard chasing her every day. But the idea of that happening to me? She can’t stand it. So she came up with a plan: In the off chance I somehow become a wanted criminal, Eda will send me to the one place the guards can’t find me.”

“Which is the human realm.”

“Exactly. Once I’m here, I’ll stay until either the heat dies down, or until Eda works out a way for me to go free. Whichever comes first.”

“How long will that take?”

“I don’t know. Could be a few days, a few weeks...maybe a few months.”

“But you can go back any time, right?”

“Oh no, only Eda has the way to send me back. That way, I won’t feel tempted to come home early and get caught in the process.”

“So let me get this straight: You are forced to stay here for who knows how long, by yourself, with no way to go back?”

“Huh,” Luz said, her face drooping, “You know, when you say it like that, it almost sounds a little depressing. In fact, the amnesia spell probably made me forget how depressing it really is. Which was nice while it lasted...I guess.”

For a second, it seemed as if Luz was depressed at her realization, only to suddenly look even more determined.

“But enough about that,” she said, “After all, you said you were gonna help me, right?”

“I did?”

“Yeah. You said that you were gonna call...someone. I can’t remember the name.”

“Child Protective Services?”

“That’s it,” Luz said with a snap of her fingers.

“I said that when I thought you were a normal teenage girl,” Camilia explained, the panic coming back, “Now that I know you’re a witch, I don’t think it’s a good idea to call them now. Because who knows what they’ll do when they find out the truth too.”

“Oh...oh.” Luz now seemed as if she was experiencing a myriad of emotions. From panic to dread, and even sadness. Camilia felt sorrowful for the young witch and reached out for Luz’s hand to comfort her. But Luz flinched away while putting on a false smile.

“It’s fine. It’s fine!” she stuttered, “I’ll just um, I’ll live in the woods.”

“You’ll what?” Camilia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. And she couldn’t understand how Luz casually went to grab her duffle bag from the living room. As if what she was planning to do was completely sane.

“Hey, I was planning to live in the woods anyways,” Luz started walking to a door in the kitchen that led to the backyard, “It’s no big deal, really. And if the most dangerous thing around is your wolf, then I should be fine.”

There are much worse things in the woods than my dog,” Camilia warned, causing Luz to look dejected again. But Luz just shook off her concerns.

“It doesn’t matter. Because Eda is the smartest person I know. Odds are, she’ll find a way for me to come back home in no time...Maybe...Probably...hopefully.”

Luz walked up to the door but turned back to Camilia with a polite smile.

“Goodbye, miss...human...lady-I don’t know your last name.”

“It’s Noceda.”

“Noceda…” Luz repeated the name as if she was testing it, “That’s a nice name.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

Luz smiled one last time before facing the door again. She grabbed the doorknob, ready to leave until-

"Wait!” Camilia got out of her chair and walked up to Luz. This made Luz curious enough to stick around, wondering what Camilia had to say. As well as why Camilia looked so conflicted.

“Aye, No puedo creer que estoy haciendo esto…” she sighed before looking at Luz with determination, “I have a guest bedroom upstairs. If you want, you could spend a couple nights up there. And _only_ for a couple of nights.”

“Oh, you don’t need to-”

“You’re right. I don’t need to. I could just let you walk out that door and pretend that none of this ever happened! And trust me: I am really, _really_ tempted to do just that...but I’m not going to. Because I’m not the type of person to just turn away a poor girl who clearly needs help.

“So no, I don’t need to help,” Camilia raised out her hand, “But I want to.”

Luz looked at the hand, and then back up at Camilia. What Luz saw was the same genuine face that Camilia had earlier. Except for this time, Camilia knew what she was signing up for. Feeling too grateful to describe, Luz went in to hug Camilia. As for Camilia, she just stood there feeling too stunned to do anything else.

“Thank you,” Luz choked out, “Thank you so much.”

“Um, you’re welcome,” Camilia said as she gave Luz a light pat on the back, “It really is no problem.”

*******

Luz plopped down unto the bed in the guest room, letting out a relaxed sigh as she did. She had just changed out of her school uniform and into her sleepwear, about ready for bed. Until she remembered something important, which caused Luz to reach down for her duffle bag that was placed on the right side of her bed. Opening up her duffle, Luz pulled out a small photo of her, Eda, and King. They each had their own unique pose, each of them wearing a goofy look on their faces.

Luz smiled a sad smile as she looked at the photo. But her moment of reflection was soon ruined once she heard a knock on the door.

“Hola Luz,” Camilia said from the other side, “I’m just checking to make sure you’ve settled in ok.”

“Oh yeah, I’m doing good!” Luz called out from her bed, “Thanks again for letting me stay here. This room is honestly a _lot_ nicer than what I have back home.”

“Well, just remember that it’s temporary until we find a better solution than you living in the woods. Until then, can you please not do any more crazy spells again?”

“I’ll try my best, but I make no promises.”

“I guess I’ll take it,” Camilia sighed, “Buenas noches.”

“Is that how humans say goodnight?”

“It’s how some of us say goodnight.”

“Well then, buenas noches to you too!”

“...Close enough,” Camilia said, and Luz could hear the human lady walking away. Luz looked back at her picture again, smiling happily this time.

“See you later, guys,” she whispered to the picture, “I’ll see you when I’m back from vacation.”

Luz set the picture down on the bedside table and turned to go to sleep. Thus ending her first night in the human realm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're interested in other stuff I make/currently making: https://ordinaryschmuck.tumblr.com/


	3. Into the Mall-mart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz and Camilia go shopping, and Luz makes a new "friend" in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this took a while to make. You can blame writer's block and procrastination for that.

**_Beep-beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep-beep!_ **

Camilia groaned as she reached over for her phone with her eyes closed. After fumbling with a few other objects on her nightstand, Camilia finally grabbed her phone and lifted it to her face.

“It’s my one day off…” she mumbled to herself, “Why did I still set my alarm?”

Camilia then shut the alarm off and set her phone back on the nightstand. Feeling more than happy to get a few extra hours of sleep, Camilia turned over on her bed. But her attempt at slumber was soon interrupted once Prince started licking her face.

“Aye, no,” she groaned, “Solo unos minutos mas…”

Prince responded by whimpering. Camilia knew that this meant either one of two things. Either Prince demanded attention, or he needed to go outside. Not wanting to take any chances, Camilia decided it was for the best to wake up to take Prince out.

“Ok, fine,” she yawned as she sat up and stretched. “Let’s get the day started, I guess.”

Camilia trudged her way out of her bedroom and walked down the hall, with Prince following her. Camilia must have walked down this hallway several times in her life just so she could get to the stairs. She became so familiar with the sights, and sounds, that she could tell something was different by the tiniest speck and most silent creak. So when Camilia heard what sounded like a bear snarling with a trout stuck in its throat, needless to say, she became curious about the sound’s whereabouts. She followed her ears to find out that the sound was coming from the guest bedroom. 

Opening the door by just a crack, Camilia saw none other than a teenage girl sprawled out on top of the bed, snoring up a storm. It wasn’t until she saw the pointy ears did the events of last night come crashing back to her. Camilia still couldn’t believe that she allowed a witch of all things to spend a couple nights.

“It’s only temporary, Camilia,” she reminded herself, “It’s only temporary.”

Prince’s whimpering is what stole Camilia away from her thoughts, and she immediately remembered the task at hand. 

“Alright, I hear you,” she said while heading towards the stairs, “Just hold it in for a little longer. Ok?”

**_***_ **

Once Camilia brought Prince back inside from outside time, she went to cook pancakes on her skillet. After a couple of minutes, she had successfully made three perfect pancakes for her and Luz. She was just about to call Luz down to eat, but Camilia stopped once she heard a light yawn from behind her. She turned around to see none other than the young witch herself, rubbing the sleep out of her eye.

“Buenos días,” Camilia said with a smile, “Sleep well?”

“Like I was lying in a cloud made of smaller and softer clouds,” Luz said dreamily, “Why is a bed that soft used for the guest bedroom??

“I like to make sure guests are happy when they stay over. So I used some extra money to buy a nice bed. When did you get up, anyway?”

“When my nose smelt food and my stomach screamed ‘Feed me!’ Whatcha’ making?”

“I made us pancakes,” Camilia said as she flipped another onto her plate. Luz, on the other hand, was caught off guard by what she heard.

“Us?” she asked out of confusion. Confusion turned to shock once Luz noticed the second plate.

“Si, that’s why you came down here, right?” Camilia asked, setting their food on the table, “To eat what I was making?”

“I mean, yeah. It was your cooking that woke me up. But actually, I came down here with the plan of going into the forest and scourge for food.”

“You gotta stop thinking it’s ok to go into the woods. You’re a teenager. Not a wild animal.”

“My stepmom says that there’s no real difference.”

“Well, either way, you still need your nutrients,” Camilia grabbed the maple syrup off the counter, “So how about we just sit down and eat? Hm?”

Camilia sat down at her end of the table and began to pour syrup onto her pancakes. Luz, hesitantly, walked over to her side and sat down, staring at her pancakes.

“Just so you know,” she said, “You didn’t need to-”

We’ve been over this last night,” Camilia interrupted while passing the syrup, “I don’t  _ need  _ to do anything. But I want to.”

Luz politely smiled as she took the syrup from Camilia and repeated what she did to her pancakes. Luz then grabbed her fork and once again stared at her pancakes, her smile now replaced with a perplexed frown. Camilia took immediate note of this.

“They don’t have pancakes where you’re from, do they?” she guessed. Luz responded by shaking her head.

“Well, go ahead and try them,” Camilia encouraged, “I can assure you that they don’t bite. Plus, I’ve been told that my pancakes are  _ excellent _ .”

‘She hasn’t steered you wrong so far,’ Luz thought to herself. She shrugged and used her fork to cut off a small piece of her pancake. Slowly and hesitantly, Luz lifted her piece of pancake up to mouth and took a bite. And once she did, her eyes went about as wide as the pancakes themselves.

“Um, Luz…” Camilia said hesitantly, “Are you-”

But before Camilia could finish, Luz instantly began scarfing down both her pancakes. In a matter of seconds, her entire plate became squeaky clean as Luz leaned back in her chair with a satisfied moan.

“I have  _ never _ tasted something that amazing,” she said, “And the Boiling Isles has this thing called Unicorn Horns, which taste like actual rainbows.”

“...Well then,” Camilia took a bite of her own pancake, “I’m happy to hear that...And I’m also glad that I didn’t use the chocolate chips. Because I don’t want to see what that would’ve looked like.”

“I don't know what chocolate chips are, but I want 'em!"

“Maybe another time. For now, I want to talk.”

“Sure,” Luz sat up straight in her chair, “What do you wanna talk about?”

“To be honest, I’m curious about what your game plan is.”

“My 'game plan?'”

“Si. What are you going to do now that you’re in the human world?”

“As in…”

“As in where are you going to live? What are you going to eat? How are you going to talk to people without causing them to faint? Stuff like that?”

“Wow,” Luz leaned forward onto the table and began to massage her temples. “You are  _ really  _ laying a lot on me this early in the morning. I haven’t even had my apple blood yet.”

“Lo siento. It’s just that-Did you just say ‘apple blood?’”

“Yup.”

“...Don’t you mean apple juice?”

“Nope.”

“...Anyways. I’m worried that maybe your stepmom didn’t think this exile all the way through.”

“Yeah. Eda and I got all the way to the leaving part and thought we could just wing it from there. Or,  _ I  _ could wing it at least.”

“No offense, but I don’t think ‘winging it’ is a good strategy for surviving on your own.”

“Yeah, I guess you have a point,” Luz mumbled as she slumped down in her chair. Camilia looked at the teen and felt awful for dropping a harsh reality on Luz.

“Uh, hey,” Camilia said to get Luz’s attention, “I was planning to do some shopping today. Maybe, while I’m out, I could buy you some supplies? Just to get by for a few days on your own. Would that help you feel better?"

Luz’s signature smile returned at Camilia’s offer.

“That sounds great,” she said, “And I could probably go with you. That way, I could get the lay of the land. You know?”

“Um, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Camilia said hesitantly, “You were lucky enough to find someone who would faint at your magic. Most people in the human world tend to have more...violent reactions. And I don’t want to accidentally do a spell, and risk an angry mob chasing us with pitchforks and torches.”

“That could happen?”

“Most likely, yes.”

“ _ Woof.  _ Then maybe I should just stay here instead.”

“That sounds good.”

“And while I’m here, I can check out all your human treasures! Like that thing.”

Luz pointed behind Camilia, to where the blender was sitting on the counter.

“I don’t why, but I have this urge to just stick my hand right in it. It’s okay for me to do that, right? I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?” 

“You know what?!” Camilia squeaked, “Maybe you should come with me after all. I’ll just...keep an eye on you. I guess.”

“Woo-hoo! I’m going to see more of the human world!” Luz got out of her chair and headed for the stairs, “I’m gonna go get dressed. You are not gonna regret this!”

“I hope not,” Camilla sighed as she continued to eat her pancakes.

**_Two different showers later._ **

Luz sat patiently at the bottom of the stairs, petting Prince who became comfortable with Luz once she found the sweet spot behind his ears. Movement from upstairs caught both of their attention as they turned to see Camilia, walking down the stairs, now wearing her signature turtleneck and jeans.

“Ok, I’m ready to go,” she said while putting on her glasses, “I just need to get my purse and keys, and we can just…”

Camilia lost track of what she was about to say once she looked at Luz. More specifically, once she looked at what Luz was wearing. Because instead of sporting the multi-colored outfit that Luz wore yesterday, the young witch was wearing something that was less peculiar, but still odd.

What Luz wore was a gothic dress that was dark purple with a blue diamond in the center. While the light purple sleeves were long enough to go up to her fingers, the skirt itself went just below the knee. As for the rest of Luz's legs, she wore black leggings and black heel boots with stars on the buckles. To Camilia, the outfit somehow looked both modern and yet looked as though it belonged in medieval times.

“Um, Ms. Noceda?” Luz asked with concern, “Why are you just staring at me?”

“Lo siento,” Camilia snapped out of it, “It’s just...is that really what you’re wearing?”

“Yeah, why? Is there something wrong with what I’m wearing?”

“No-I mean, probably not from where you're from. But here? People might think that your outfit is a little...old fashioned.”

“Eh,” Luz shrugged, “I never really cared about keeping up with current trends anyway. That kinda stuff stresses a girl out way more than it’s worth. Amiright?”

“That’s an admirable point of view, but if you want to fit in the human world, then you should at least look human. Which means finding clothes that teenagers here wear, while also finding something that covers the ears. And maybe find something a little less bedazzled."

Camilia went to point at the blue diamond protruding from Luz’s chest. But when it looked like Camilia was getting close to poking it, Luz slapped the woman’s hand away. 

“Don’t touch my jewel!” she shouted with a blush, “I don’t go around touching your...human private parts, do I?”

“Ok,” Camilia said, raising her arms up, “Got it. No touching the jewel. Especially if it means that you don’t say the words 'private parts' to me ever again. Now, do you have your money?”

“Yeah?”

“Good. I’m going to get my purse and keys."

“Keys?” Luz asked with a tilt of her head, “What do you need keys for?”

*******

Out of all the ways Camilia expected taking Luz along could go wrong, having Luz in the car was not one of them. So far, Luz had messed with the radio, the air conditioning, the windshield wipers, the seats, and even the windows themselves. In fact, for the last ten minutes, Luz was currently mesmerized by rolling her window down and back up again. Camilia allowed it at first since it stopped Luz from being a living hurricane within the car. But by the eleventh minute of hearing the same screeching noise, Camilia decided that enough was enough. To which she then promptly locked the window without Luz noticing.

“...Oops,” Luz said as she tried pressing the down button, “Um, don’t be mad, but I think I broke your magic window.”

“Yup! You definitely broke it!” Camilia said quickly, “Don’t even bother doing that again, because it’s broken. Forever.”

“Sorry…”

“It’s ok. Hey, now that things are quiet again, how about we talk about our plan?”

“Didn’t we do that this morning?”

“We talked about how you were going to live in the human world. Right now, we need to talk about how you’re going to behave while we’re shopping.”

“Ok...Which means?”

“Which means-and I can’t stress this enough-no magic. Like I said, most humans are violent. So, you’ll find out that our first instinct is to kill what we don’t understand.”

“That wasn’t your first instinct,” Luz pointed out with a smirk.

“Yeah, well, I’m different. You should also try to pretend that you’re human. That means don’t get starry-eyed at every little thing you see. I know that it’s new and exciting for you, but to humans, it’s just dull and average.”

“Even the magic windows?!”

“Especially the magic windows.”

“Woah...Wait. How am I supposed to pretend to be human when I’m, you know-”

Luz pointed at her ears and at her clothes to prove her point.

"If people ask about the ears and clothing, just tell them that you’re...cosplaying!”

“Cosplaying?”

“Yeah. Just say that you're a cosplayer who's planning to go some sort of convention, but you had to do some shopping with me at first.”

"And who are you in this situation?"

"I don't know. How about, for the sake of convenience, you tell people I'm your mother. Or something."

“And you’re sure that will work?”

"It should."

"Even the part about being a 'cosplayer?'"

“Oh yeah. Teenagers today do so many crazy things for attention, that people just ironically ignore them at this point.”

“Alright. Well, I don’t know what cosplaying is, or what it has to do with a Convention. But if you think it’ll work, then I trust you.”

“Gracias,” Camilia said as she pulled into a parking lot, “Alright, we’re here.”

Luz got a look at her surroundings. To her, it looked like Camilia stopped her metal box in between several more metal boxes. And in front of the boxes was a building that had an unfamiliar word printed on the front.

“What’s a ‘Mall-mart?’” she asked, squinting her eyes to get a better view of the building.

“It’s a supercenter,” Camilia explained as she unbuckled her seatbelt, “Basically, it’s a place where humans do their shopping. How do you buy things in the Boiling Isles?”

“We have these things called markets," Luz said as she unbuckled her seatbelt too. "They’re these stands filled with food and other stuff for people to buy and haggle with. Or in Eda’s case: Steal when no one is looking.”

“We have markets too. It’s just that more people prefer places like this-” Camilia pointed at the Mall-mart, “-out of convenience. And also air conditioning. Besides, Mall-mart is practically an indoor market. Minus the haggling. And  _ especially _ the stealing.”

Camilia then exited the car, and Luz promptly followed. Her astonishment was apparent on her face.

“No haggling?” she asked as if she couldn’t believe what Camilia said, “Well then how do you save money?”

“Coupons,” Camilia said simply, “Speaking of saving money, how much do you have, anyway?”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” Luz said with a cocky grin, “I might not know the exact amount, but let’s just say that I am pretty good financially wise.”

Luz then pulled her money out of her pocket and lifted it up to Camilia’s face.

“BAM!” Luz exclaimed proudly.

“...That’s a sandwich bag full of pennies.”

“Oh, is that what these things are called? We just call them copper coins from where I’m from.”

Before saying anything else, Luz looked left then right and walked up close to Camilia.

“And according to our human specialists,” Luz whispered, “these are the highest forms of currency in the human world. Pretty cool, right?”

“...Pennies may have been worth something in 1962. But nowadays, they’re practically the most worthless form of currency.”

Luz said nothing but stare blankly at Camilia. She then looked at her pennies, back at Camilia, back at her pennies, and back at Camilia once again.

“Really?” Luz asked innocently.

“Si,” Camilia nodded.

_ “Really?”  _ Luz asked dejectedly.

“SI-Aye, tienes que estar bromeando,” Camilia sighed that last part to herself, while pinching the brim of her nose out of annoyance. “You know what? I’ll just pay for everything.”

“Oh, no, you don’t-”

“You can pay me back...somehow.” 

Luz looked back at her bag of pennies.

“I will not accept pennies as payment,” Camilia deadpanned.

“Dang it…”

“Now come on,” Camilia motioned towards the Mall-mart, “Let’s get this shopping day over with.”

Camilia headed towards the giant building, with Luz following shortly behind. Once they got to the main entrance, Luz looked down at her bag of pennies one last time.

“Well, since you’re useless, then what’s the point in even keeping you?” she stated, tossing her bag in a random direction. To which the bag coincidentally landed in the lap of a homeless person sitting by the entrance.

“Yes!” the homeless person shouted with double fist pumps.

*******

Inside the Mall-mart, Luz was instantly stupefied by what she saw. People who pushed metal cages with wheels. A cardboard cutout of a wolf telling Luz to buy something called “Moon Pies.” Shoppers still using paper and/or plastic bags to put their food in, even though it’s better for the environment to use tote bags. Luz could have spent hours looking at the wonders of the human world. That is if it wasn’t for Camilia.

“Aye, Luz!” Camilia said, pushing a metal cage of her own, “Did you forget our talk in the car?”

“Oh! Right! Sorry,” Luz said with a sheepish smile, “Don’t worry. From here on out, I am Luz Clawthorne: Normal teen.”

"You know, it significantly less normal to announce stuff like that out loud," Camilia said, motioning towards a shopper who looked at Luz curiously.

“It’s fine,” Camilia sighed, “Now when it comes to shopping, I have a perfect system. We start in the dairy section and zig-zag our way down the aisles until we get everything we’re looking for. And after we’re done with getting food, we’ll move on to looking for clothes.”

“And how long will all of this take?”

“Well, let’s see: It usually takes me an hour to get food. Mostly because I like to take time to compare prices with other brands, that way I can save money. As for buying clothes, well, that depends on you. We have to pick things out that are cheap but fashionable, while also finding an outfit that fits you. And if the times I spent shopping with my sister has taught me anything, it’s that clothes shopping usually takes an hour to two hours. So I guess we're going to be in here for a while."

“Yeah, not gonna lie, you lost me after 'hour.' So here’s my idea: You handle the food, and I’ll look for clothes. That way, we could split our time in half, and I don’t have to do all that boring stuff with you! It’s a win-win!”

“First: that’s not how a win-win works because I don't really win anything. Second: ouch. Third: I don’t think that’s a good idea. Mostly because I don’t know what will happen if I leave you on your own.”

“Hey, I’ll be fine. Besides, I’m eventually going to move out of your house at some point. So, I might as well try to do something by myself.”

“I guess that’s a good point,” Camilia said with hesitation, “But just make sure that you don’t take anything that goes over twenty dollars.”

“Question.”

“Don’t buy anything that has the number twenty on a price tag.”

“Question receded,” Luz said with a pep in her step as she began to walk away from Camilia.

“The clothing section is in the opposite direction.”

“Got it!” Luz then turned around and followed Camilia’s instruction.

**_Three more sets of directions later._ **

Luz finally walked up to a section of a store that was lined up with clothing. As she looked around, she saw several sets of pants, shirts, and what looked like thinner coats. What surprised Luz, though, was how revealing some of these outfits were. She passed by a few mannequins and took notice that a shirt didn’t even cover the stomach. Just the thought of wearing something like that made Luz blush.

“How do humans not die of hyperthermia?” she whispered to herself, “No! Don’t say stuff like that. Right now, you’re a human too. So act like this is normal and don’t draw attention to yourself.”

And just as Luz said that she immediately walked into another girl. There was an audible clatter, and the girl’s eyes rapidly go wide with horror.

“No, no, nonononono!” The girl cried as she bent down to grab a rectangular device off of the floor. She began to inspect the object, and Luz took the time to examine the girl in front of her. She had sun-tanned skin and blonde hair with a pink streak in it. As for what the girl was wearing, she had a white t-shirt with the words ‘bad girl’ written on it, a flannel printed shirt tied around her waist, and some type of blue pair of pants with holes in them.

“Oh, thank God it isn’t broken,” the girl sighed with relief. But relief soon turned to anger as she glared daggers at Luz.

“Uh...hey,” Luz smiled nervously, “Sorry about that.”

“You are lucky that you didn’t break this!” the girl said as she got up close to Luz, “Because if you did, you would be the one who’ll have to buy me a new phone!”

At this point, the girl took notice of Luz’s appearance.

“Also, what even is your outfit right now?”

“Um…” Luz remembered what Camilia told her to say, “I’m a cosplayer who plans to go to a convention later?”

“Why did you phrase that like a question?”

“Why did you phrase  _ that  _ like a question?”

"..."

"..."

"...You know what?” the girl raised her hands up in defeat, “I’m not dealing with this. See you later, weirdo.”

The girl began to walk away, but Luz immediately ran ahead of her to get the girl’s attention.

“Hang on,” Luz said, “We’re the same age, right?”

“Physically or mentally?” the girl asked with an eyebrow raise.

“Ha! Good one. You see, I need to buy clothes that are perfect for a girl my age. The problem is that I’m not really the most fashionable person around.”

“That seems pretty obvious.”

“Yup. So do you think you could help me find something? Please? I would really appreciate it."

“And why would I help a girl who nearly broke my phone?”

“What if I say ‘pretty please?’” Luz asked, putting on her signature puppy eyes. The girl was ready to say no, but a  _ ping _ coming from her device stole her attention for a bit. After briefly checking it, the girl let out an aggravated groan.

“Oh no, did I actually break it?” Luz asked.

“No, my friend just texted me saying that she’s running late,” The girl looked back at Luz, and then rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll help you.”

“You will?!”

“Well, I got nothing better to do. So I might as well kill time by helping you.”

“Thank you so much!” Luz then stuck her hand out, “I’m Luz, by the way.”

“...Carla,” the girl said, not even going for Luz’s hand. “Now, c’mon.”

Carla waved her hand for Luz to follow. Luz did so, and the two teens found themselves amongst many shirts with a variety of designs.

“Alright, Luz,” Carla said, “What type of style are you looking for?”

“...The style of a teenage girl?”

“Ok, but what specific type of style? Like, are you the type of person who wants to stand out? Or do you just want to fit in with the crowd?”

With that question, Luz was torn on what to say. The clear answer was to find something that helped her blend in. But at the same time, there was something about ‘standing out’ that appealed to Luz's desire.

“Is there an in-between option?”

“You are not making this easy for me,” Carla sighed, “Ok, how about this: What are your interests?”

“My interests?”

“Yeah, what do you like? Do you like anime, fantasy, cute animals-”

“Did you seriously ask if I liked cute animals? Because of course, I like cute animals! What kind of sick monster wouldn’t?”

For a split second, Luz swore that she saw a flicker of a grin on Carla’s face. But said grin disappeared almost instantly.

“Cute animals,” Carla stated, “That narrows down the options.”

Carla walked past the shirts, searching and scanning for the perfect one. The search then led the two into a section of a different type of clothing. Luz looked up at a sign and figured that these were called “crop tops.”

“Oh, this one’s cute,” Carla said as she finally found something she liked, “What’s your size, Luz?”

“Small medium.”

Carla looked through most of the crop tops that looked the same until she grabbed one out from the bunch. She lifted it out for Luz, who took her time to analyze the article of clothing. Its pattern was split into two colors, with white on the bottom and blue on the top. The crop top also had a hood attached to it, with two flappy things on the top.

“What do you think?”

“What’s up with those dangly things on the hood?”

“I think they’re supposed to be cat ears? That way, when you put the hood on, you could look like a cat.”

“...That is the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard,” Luz gasped, her eyes practically glittering with stars. Once again, it looked like Carla grinned for half a second before whipping it away.

“Well, then I guess this is perfect for you,” Carla tossed the hooded crop top to Luz, and led the way towards different pairs of pants. They eventually stopped near pants that resembled the same kind that Carla was wearing. Only the pant legs were  _ much _ shorter.

“These look like they could fit,” Carla said, picking up a pair to show to Luz.

“Um, aren’t they little...short?”

“...Well, they’re called jean shorts, for one.”

“Ok, that’s fair. But I’m not really all that comfortable with showing off anything above the knee.”

“And yet you’re comfortable with walking around in public, wearing fake elf ears. By the way, where did you get those? Because they almost look lifelike?”

“You know, maybe I will buy the shorts after all!” Luz instantly took the jorts out of Carla’s hands, “I’ll just, uh, wear my leggings under them! That’s still normal, right?”

“...I guess?”

“Perfect! Thanks for the help. I can’t wait to try this stuff on at home!”

“Or you could just try them on here,” Carla pointed out, which stopped Luz in her tracks.

“I can?” she asked, “How?”

“Well, you use these things called a ‘changing room’” Carla remarked with sarcasm as she pointed at a nearby changing area. “That way, you can see for yourself if what you picked is something you want, or if it even fits.”

Luz was blown away by this concept. In the Boiling Isles, you just buy clothes that are magically a perfect fit. Both in terms of personal style, as well as body type. So the fact that humans had to personally pick and choose clothes, while also having to check to make sure they fit, was mind-boggling to Luz.

“That is interesting,” she accidentally blurted out.

“How is that interesting? It’s shopping 101?”

“Oh, um, I’ve never gone shopping before,” Luz stammered out, which only made Carla more skeptical.

“Even then, it’s still pretty common knowledge to know about-”

“ _ Anyways! _ I’m gonna go ahead and use the changing room. Thanks for the help! Again”

Luz sprinted towards the changing area, leaving Carla to just stand where she was. Confused about what had just transpired.

**_***_ **

Luz looked at her reflection in the changing room’s mirror. She didn’t fully grasp the concept of trying on clothes. So she just wore her new outfit over what she was already wearing. Needless to say, Luz felt befuddled at figuring out what was wrong.

“Hm...Something doesn’t seem right,” she muttered to herself. Luz then flipped up the hood and used her fingers to prop up the cat ears. When Luz looked in the mirror again, she was transfixed over how she really did look like a cat. Or, at least, to Luz’s eyes, she looked like a cat.

“So this is what perfection looks like,” she whispered, “Or should I say:  _ Purr _ -fection?”

Luz took the time to briefly laugh at her own dumb joke.

“Oh man,” she said while wiping a tear from her eye, “I should take a picture of this.”

**_Knock, knock_ **

“Hey, Luz? Are you fully dressed in there?”

“Uh-huh. Sure am.” Luz stated as she drew a spell circle to summon her scroll. The scroll started to appear when suddenly-

“Good, because I have-” Carla walked into the dressing room, and Luz quickly grabbed her scroll to hide it behind her back. Turning around, Luz faced Carla, who just looked at Luz with an expression of shock and bewilderment. At the moment, Luz couldn’t tell what her face looked like, but she was willing to guess it was that of a person who was caught hiding a dead body.

“...Ok. Right now, I’m going to ignore…” Carla motioned towards Luz’s outfit, “All of this for the moment. Because I have a question about stuff that is more important than your outfit. Such as, what was that?”

“What was what?”

“That thing you're hiding behind your back,” Carla pointed out while looking over Luz’s shoulder. It was then Luz remembered something important: She had her back turned towards a mirror.

“Oh, you mean this,” Luz lifted up her scroll, “This is just-um-something for the convention...that I’m cosplaying for...you know what I mean?”

“Oh, really?” Carla asked skeptically, “Because when I came in here, it almost looked as if that thing appeared out of thin air.”

“Oh, I’m sure that was just an optical illusion,” Luz said, as she walked past Carla to get out of the changing room. “Anyway, I need to go find my mom. It was nice meeting you, and I hope we can keep in touch.”

“Wait,” Carla put a hand on Luz’s shoulder to stop her, “Before you go, I just have one last question.”

“Um, ok. What is it?”

“What’s the name of the convention you’re going to?”

“...”

“Because I want to look it up real quick,” Carla explained, taking out her phone in the process, “That way I'll know where it is, and maybe we can meet up after it’s over and hang out some more.”

“...”

“Unless, of course, there is no convention. And you’re hiding something about yourself. Like, why don’t you know about the basics of being human? How did you get that weird scroll thingy? And more importantly: What is wrong with your ears? Because they are definitely not prosthetic.”

“...”

“In fact, right now I have an even better question,” at this point, Carla got right up in front of Luz’s face, “ _ What  _ are  _ you _ , Luz?”

“...I...am so sorry about this.”

“About wh-” But before Carla could finish that thought, Luz grabbed her phone and threw in the opposite direction of where they were standing.

“MY BABY!” Carla screamed, chasing after her phone. As for Luz, she just ran away from Carla, still wearing the clothes that the human girl picked out for her.

“I hope we can still be friends after this!” Luz called out as she ran.

“I’M GOING TO FRICKIN’ KILL YOU WHEN I SEE YOU AGAIN!”

“I’ll take that as a maybe!”

**_Meanwhile…_ **

‘Do witches even like mac n’ cheese?’ Camilia thought to herself, as she held up the food in question. ‘Hm...Eh. There’s only one way to find out.’

Camilia tossed the box of macaroni and cheese into her cart and continued to walk down the aisle. She felt proud of the several items she got in the last few minutes. Not only did Camilia stock up on a few necessities, but she even got the perfect food spread for Luz. Camilia utilized her skills as a nurse to pick out the right amount of nutrients for a growing teen girl. As well as grab a few little snacks, just to be kind for her new guest.

Speaking of, Camilia hoped that Luz was ok with picking out new clothes on her own. Every minute, she was worried something unfortunate was going to happen by having the young witch be on her own. But every time, Camilia would just dismiss the worry. After all, it wasn’t entirely her responsibility to look after Luz.

“Camilia?” A voice said, yanking Camilia back into reality. She immediately recognized the voice and held in her groan. Turning around, Camilia saw a short woman with dusty-blonde hair, thick-rimmed glasses, and a giant enthusiastic smile.

“Hola, Peri,” Camilia politely greeted. She would never say that she hated Peri. The woman was a friendly nurse, and the two of them got along when working together. The problem is that Peri can be a bit talkative at times. And while Camilia would hate to admit it, she needs time to mentally prepare herself to have a conversation with Peri.

“It’s so nice to see you,” Peri said while rolling her cart over to Camilia’s, “What are the odds you’d go shopping on the exact same day I need to buy cat food!”

“That’s a lot of cat food,” Camilia noticed by looking at Peri’s cart.

“Well, I have a lot of cats!” Peri said with enthusiasm, “I even got three new ones last Friday. There’s Swiss Cheese, who’s a bit of a trouble maker, Ravioli who’s a sweetheart, and then the third one.”

“Why doesn’t the third one have a name? Better yet, why are the other two named after cheeses?”

“Well, I was hungry when naming them.”

“Ah.”

“And don’t tell Swiss, Ravi, or any of my other cats, but the third one is easily the best cat I’ve ever had,” Peri whispered, “So I want to take my time when giving him the best name in the world. Got any ideas?”

“Um...Jack?”

“ _ Pfft!  _ Jack isn’t a name for a cat, silly!” Peri chortled, “And it’s certainly not the best name in the world. I mean, could you imagine a cat named  _ Jack? Ha!  _ I'm laughing just thinking about it."

“Well, I tried my best,” Camilia said, slowly backing away out of hope that the conversation was over. Unfortunately, Peri had other plans.

“Hang on, hang  _ on! _ ” she stopped Camilia by grabbing onto her cart, “What’s the rush? Tell me about how you’re doing. Like...why do you have so much food for one person?”

It was at that moment that Camilia began to panic. On top of being talkative, Peri had the tendency to gossip. And the last thing Camilia needed was Peri telling the whole hospital that Camilia was hiding a teenage witch in her guest room.

“I have a guest living with me for a few days,” Camilia lied, “So I’m just stocking up on food for the both of us.”

“What kind of guest would like a box of animal crackers?” Peri asked, “Isn’t that a snack for someone...a little...young…”

Suddenly, Peri gasped with delight, and her eyes practically glittered as she smiled widely at Camilia.

“I think I know what’s going on~,” Peri said in a sing-song voice.

“I highly doubt that you do~,” Camilia replied with a more nervous sing-song voice.

“You know what I think is the reason why you're buying so much food?”

“Why’s that?”

“Because you finally pulled through with an adoption!” Peri shrieked with glee. At that moment, Camilia was split on what to say. If she confirmed that Peri was right, there’s a chance Peri will tell the whole world. And when Luz inevitably leaves, Camilia would then have to explain why her adopted daughter went missing. But on the other hand, if Camilia denied it, then she would have to come up with a different excuse. The problem is that Camilia isn’t the most creative liar around, so…

“Yup! I adopted a daughter,” Camilia forced a smile as Peri  _ Squeed _ with joy. She then went up and hugged Camilia. Which Camilia politely accepted, but refused to hug back.

“Congratulations!” Peri exclaimed, “How old is she-No wait-What’s her name-NO WAIT-Why were you trying to hide it from me?”

“Well…” Camilia briefly struggled to find an answer, “It’s because it’s a personal thing. And I just like to keep personal issues private. You know?”

“Oh, I  _ totally  _ get it.”

“Good, because I need you to do me a favor,” Camilia then put both of her hands on Peri’s shoulders to get her attention. “It is absolutely important to me that you keep the adoption between us.”

“Why would-”

“It just is, ok?” Camilia interrupted, “Now, can you promise me that you won’t say anything, to anyone.”

“Ok.”

“No, no. Don’t just say ok. I want you to actually swear to me that you won’t tell anyone.”

“Alright,” Peri held one hand up and put the other over her chest, “I solemnly swear to never tell anyone.”

“Gracias,” Camilia sighed, drooping her hands off Peri’s shoulders.

“Soooo, what’s she like?” Peri asked eagerly.

“Well-”

“CAMILIA!”

“-Apparently, you’re about to find out,” Camilia sighed as she turned towards where the voice was coming from. Suddenly, from the other end of the aisle, Luz came screeching in. Camilia took notice of Luz's weird outfit change, as well as the panicked look on Luz’s face.

“Camilia!” Luz shouted, running over to Camilia and Peri. “Listen, we need to go! Like, right now!”

“Luz, why are you wearing those clothes over your old ones?”

“That doesn’t matter! We need to leave.”

“But I haven’t even got everything!”

“Hang on,” Peri interjected, “Is this really your daughter.”

“Uh, yes! She is!” Camilia said with a nervous smile. Peri then looked at Luz, and almost instantly, walked over to get a good look at the teen.

“She looks so adorable!” Peri cooed, “Love the cat hoodie, by the way. I have one myself.”

“Um...thanks?” Luz responded.

“Don’t mention it! By the way, sorry if it’s rude of me to ask, but why are your ears so pointy?”

“On second thought, maybe we should go! Adiós, Peri!”

Camilia then grabbed Luz by the arm and pulled both Luz and her cart away from a startled and confused Peri.

**_Shortly After._ **

Luz and Camilia sat silently in the car as Camilia furiously drove them back home. When they were in the ‘scan and go’ aisle, Luz quickly and quietly filled Camilia in on Luz’s interaction with Carla. This reasonably made Camilia angry, and Luz believed it was for the best to keep quiet for a while. It wasn’t until they made it to a stoplight that Luz decided to speak up.

“So...Mistakes were made.”

“That’s what you have to say?!” Camilia asked out of bewilderment, “You nearly got caught and was  _ so close _ to getting us into some serious trouble. And your response is to just say: ‘Mistakes were made?!'"

“Well-”

“We went over rules, Luz! I specifically told you to be careful, and you just...disregard everything I said!”

“I tried my best,” Luz indignantly said.

“Well, your ‘best’ caused some girl to figure you out. What do you think will happen if you see her again?”

“...I don’t know. But I’m sure I can handle it. Trust me, a girl like that is nothing compared to what I face on the Boiling Isles.”

“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be worried. 'A girl like that' can instantly spread the word that you’re a witch, with no problem. I get that you don’t understand most things here, but you need to remember to be cautious. Because you’re not in the Boiling Isles anymore. So you need to start acting like  _ aren't. _ ”

“And you’re not my mom! So you need to stop acting like you  _ are! _ ”

For some reason, Camilia didn’t understand why, but she felt taken aback by Luz’s words. So much so, that she didn’t notice the light turning green until the car behind them started blaring its horn. Camilia then continued to drive her and Luz back home. Only this time, they remained in a silence that was permanent and tense.

After a near-half-hour of driving, Camilia finally pulled into her driveway and shut off her car. Both Luz and her just sat there, neither saying anything to the other. Neither even wanting to look at the other. Eventually, Camilia let out an exasperated sigh and got out of the car. She then walked over to her trunk, opened it, and started to grab as many bags of groceries as she could. Camilia fully expected to carry the whole load by herself. What she didn’t expect was another pair of hands grabbing some bags too.

Camilia looked over at Luz, shocked that she would still help. As for Luz, she just stared at the ground, scuffing her boots in the process.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you,” Luz mumbled, “I want you to know that I am grateful for everything that you’ve been doing for me. I really am. But I am not your daughter. So, you don’t have to worry about every little thing that I do.”

Luz began to walk towards the front door but briefly stopped to once again look at Camilia.

“And another thing. If I get caught, I’ll just pretend that I don’t know you. Better yet, I’ll deny that you even exist. If that’ll make you happy.”

Camilia was at a loss for words. She just stood where she was, stunned and silent, as Luz walked to the front door and patiently waited. It took Camilia nearly a minute before finally snapping out of it.

**_***_ **

Luz looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. She had changed out of her old outfit and put on the new clothes she bought. Or, at least, the new clothes that Camilia bought. Speaking of, Luz thought it would be best to get Camilia’s opinions on Luz’s new outfit. After all, it was Camilia who wanted Luz to look normal in the first place.

When Luz got downstairs, she found the woman in question in the kitchen. Although, Camilia seemed too busy putting food away, that she didn't even notice Luz. This resulted in Luz clearing her throat to get Camilia’s attention.

“Does this look normal now,” Luz asked once Camilia turned around. Luz even did a little twirl to present her new outfit.

“It definitely looks more normal than what you were already wearing,” Camilia dismissed, going back to putting canned foods in a top cupboard.

“Ok...Hey, um, I wanna say sorry, again.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

“You sure?”

“Yup. Because you were right. I’m not your mother. You’re not my daughter. So I shouldn’t bother worrying about you.”

“Why were so worried about me, anyway?”

Camilia froze in her action, once Luz asked her question. Camilia had been asking herself the same thing all day. And she hadn’t figured out an answer until she mulled over what Luz had said earlier. Regardless, Camilia didn’t feel like sharing. Not only because it was private, but because Camilia didn’t know how Luz would react. So instead, she just stood silently with her back to Luz.

“Alright,” Luz eventually sighed, “I um...I guess I’ll be upstairs in the guest room. If you need me, just holler.”

Luz turned to walk away, finally giving up on trying to talk to Camilia. But then-

“Hey, Luz,” Camilia said, forcing Luz to turn back out of curiosity. “For a long time, I always wanted a child of my own.”

“I told you, I’m not-”

“I  _ know _ you’re not. But...it was always something I wish I had. In fact, I’ve been trying for  _ years  _ to adopt a kid instead of...making one. And during all of that time of waiting, I have read dozens of parenting books to prepare myself. But for some reason, I just...I just couldn’t do it. Whether it was because I couldn’t afford it, or for some reason, I just wasn’t eligible as a mother. In fact, the only time an adoption finally pulled through was when I got Prince over there.

“And then you showed up,” Camilia faced Luz at this point, “I look at you and… I don’t know. I guess I’m beginning to let loose all these motherly instincts that I’ve had pent up for years. So the reason why I worry about you is that it's hardwired into my brain that I should. But that doesn’t matter because, as we’ve already stated, I’m not your mother.

“So if anybody needs to apologize, it should be me. It’s not my job to worry about you, nor is it my responsibility to take care of you. I made a choice to help you, and I shouldn’t have been so overbearing when doing so. So, I’m sorry, and I hope we can move past this.”

Camilia went back to putting food away, feeling as though she got her point across. This time, it was Luz's turn to fully take in what had been said.

“You know,” Luz eventually said, “I guess it’s not  _ too _ bad knowing that there’s someone here who worries about me. Makes a witch feel a little...Well, it makes me feel a little less alone. I guess.”

Camilia turned around to face Luz. Luz smiled warmly at the woman, even though Camilia herself held an expression of shock.

“So, I guess neither of us should be saying sorry,” Luz went on, “Instead, what I’m going to say is: Thank you. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. Because seriously, I owe you big time. You just say the word.”

Luz walked away and began to head back upstairs, with Prince happily following behind her. This left Camilia alone, with herself, and her thoughts. When one specific thought about Luz came into Camilia’s mind, she immediately shook her head free from it and continued to put away her groceries.

“It’s only temporary Camilia,” she reminded herself, “It’s only temporary.”

**Author's Note:**

> Originally this was going to be one chapter, but my creativity got the better of me, so you're getting two. Hooray!


End file.
